Balfron Matters
Monday 24 October 2022
Weekly communication for staff
Dear colleagues,
It is great to have you all back. I hope that you have had a restful and enjoyable break. We are back with a bang and there is a lot going on this week.
There will be an S4 assembly on Monday morning for all S4 pupils. Please note the change from girls only. Fiona has helpfully put together an overview on how we are supporting Active Girls Day through Form Class time below.
We are showing a special screening of 'My Old School' on Tuesday evening at 7pm. This has been generously gifted to the Parent Council by Hopscotch Productions as a fundraiser. Tickets are available at a reduced priced (compared to cinema) of ÂŁ7 and are on sale now via https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/balfron-high-school-parent-council/t-rpzzojm
John Archer, the producer, will be introducing the film at the beginning of the event. I would recommend the film if you have not seen it.
Thanks to all who are helping with the Halloween discos this week. These will help contribute to our school ethos. I know that young people will appreciate the time and effort made to make these events great fun.
Have a great week.
Elaine
This week at Balfron High:
Team Meetings
Mon: S4 Assembly
Tues: My Old School Screening
Wed: S1-3 Halloween Disco
Thurs: S4-6 Halloween Disco
Fri: Active Girls Day CfE - Langauges
Active Girls Day - Friday 28 October
This Friday we will be delivering Active Girls Day 2022. This is also a 'sportswear to school' day for women and girls. Active Girls is a sportscotland initiative which celebrates the amazing work going on in girls' sport, the progress around girls' participation and the incredible role models making it happen. At Balfron High we are very proud of our young women and girls' participation and leadership.
Although woman and girls' sport has still some way to go to equal the representation of male counterparts in media coverage, pay, officiating and coaching at the top levels, things are changing. Recently there has been the greatest representation of women in sport on TV and news coverage of this generation.
Form class leaders, can you please:
make sure girls have completed the activity choice Google Form on year group classrooms (it has been moved to the top).
make girls aware that it is 'sportswear to school' day on Friday 28 October.
There will be a short video and key messages Google Slide to share with classes during form on Friday 28 October. Please can you keep Friday form free for this. It is important pupils understand the reasoning behind the day.
Further information on choices and activity periods will be shared in due course.
If any of our female staff are active this week, (walking, gym, running or structured sport) and you have Twitter, please tag @balfronhssport to help us celebrate female participation across our school community.
Fiona Fisher
Last week at Balfron
When people outside your walls know what you are doing, it gives value to those inside.
Here are some pictures from last week. These include a few snaps from Skye, retrieval activities in geography, S2 Art Award winners with the President of The Robert Burns Federation (our pupils took the top 3 prizes), a lovely new Chemistry notice board and, Leah and Sian reviewing data from their peer reading feedback.
Thanks to everyone for sharing or tweeting. I've popped these on the parent notice board too.
Info for all - Setting Homework
Please ensure that you set homework as an assignment so that parents get the notification through Google Guardian
Create a Google Classroom assignment with the prefix (HW) in its title to differentiate between classwork tasks you are working on in school and those to be completed at home (unless the title is self-evidently homework e.g. "Homework Task 1: Dimensioning Standards")
Ensure the post includes task instructions and any necessary attachments (if being completed online) or details of what resources to use e.g. text book pages and jotter/worksheet to complete task on (if being completed on paper)
The assignment post must have the due date specified in order that guardian summaries going to parents are accurate. To reduce confusion, set the due time as 9AM so pupils don't think they can submit it after school on the due date. This also means pupils can use the "To Do" list in classroom to manage their workload (worth reminding your FC to do this at the start of the year to encourage good habits)
Our homework policy is here if you haven't looked it over in a while.
Even if you are grading work completed on paper, it can be useful to record marks in classroom. There are a few handy features like rubrics and the class gradebook to help you mark and track progress. I have found the pupil summary this provides to be hugely beneficial as a reference at parents night.
Also, remember you can reuse posts from previous classrooms (even if they have been archived). Creating a template classroom to be shared within your dept. is a great way to pool these resources for easy reuse in the future.
If you would like any help with the above, or anything else in the digital sphere please just get in touch!
Dougie Scott
A helpful overview of the purpose and value of homework
(found on Twitter)
CLPL Corner
Retrieval Practice weekly input
With thanks to our Parent Council, we have an exciting new resource to support us on our journey with Science of Learning. Click on the link for a look at Carousel Learning.
Engagement sessions will be rolling out this term - watch this space!
Podcast Recommendations
Focus on: The (Un)official Teacher's Manual
This is an excellent new Podcast series aimed at Early Career Teachers but is full of useful tips for everyone.
The episodes are short, 5-10 minutes soundbites including useful tips on:
How to manage 'low level' disruption - 10 mins
How to build good relationships with pupils - 8 min
How to do your best in lesson observations - 9 min
Professional Learning Opportunities
In house CLPL coming this term
What's on this term?
Upcoming twilight sessions this term:
Supporting Seniors with studying skills and resourcing
Spot light on: Literacy in your classroom
Developing resilient classrooms - a culture of error
Increasing challenge - tweeks, not changes!
Carousel Learning: How to
Support your wellbeing: Taking care of yourself
Provider: Supervision Spaces with Education Scotland
Leadership Thoughts & Perspectives
Who do you spend your time with?
Who needs your help?
The best way to care, is to actually care
Health & Wellbeing - Counselling for staff
Did you know counselling is available through Stirling Council?
Employee Counselling is available through our Occupational Health provider, People Asset Management (PAM)
There are a few ways employees can request Counselling.
Stuart Shaw on shaws@stirling.gov.uk
Contact hr@stirling.gov.uk
Call Ann at PAM on 0800 882 4102
If you want some more information about counselling, what to expect or looking for self-help resources then please pop in and see Karin Figliolini or drop her an email.
Useful Links
Reducing+Risks+in+Schools+guidance+-+version+6.1+-+September+2021.pdfBHS SIP & Recovery Plan 202-22.docx